Mitchell King papers, 1801-1876.

Abstract: Mitchell King, of Charleston, S.C., and Flat Rock, N.C., was a teacher, lawyer, and judge of the Charleston City Court. He owned property in Charleston, as well as land in Buncombe (later Henderson) County, N.C., and on the Savannah River, presumably in Chatham County, Ga. He was a member of Presbyterian and Episcopal churches and an active member of numerous civic and educational organizations. The collection includes correspondence, accounts (including bills of sale for slaves), legal papers, diaries, and other items, chiefly 1816-1862. These materials relate primarily to family affairs; to the management of King’s property in North Carolina and of his plantation in Georgia; and to business, social, educational, and church affairs in Charleston. There is also some material on King’s legal practice; on politics, especially the 1848 presidential election; and on King’s intellectual interests, especially word usage. The Addition of February 2006 is a medical ledger belonging to Mitchell King’s son, Mitchell Campbell King, containing entries from 1853 to 1867 that are arranged by patient and document medical services and charges rendered in a clinic in North Carolina.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

Collection Highlights: Correspondence includes an 13 July 1848 letter discussing the danger abolitionists posed to the South (Folders 20). The collection also includes numerous slave bills of sale from 1801-1828 (Folders 37-39 ).

There is also a document dated 8 March 1850, apparently prepared by Mitchell King for Daniel Macaulay, emancipating two slaves left to Macaulay by his sister (Folder 59).